Do you suffer from Cyberchondria?

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Being college students, we get enough anxiety in the form of schoolwork, midterms, work and money issues, and the last thing we need is any more anxiety to add to the pile. Unfortunately, with the increase in technology in the past decade, a new form of anxiety is emerging known as "cyberchondria." Cyberchondria is the internet version of hypochondria where people go online and self diagnose themselves with having certain diseases and sicknesses and think the worst. Thirty-five percent of Americans have gone online to self diagnosis themselves at one point or another. Having the internet is a great tool to have and gives you the ability to learn about anything at any given time, however it can also lead to a lot of misdiagnoses and make you think your condition is worse than what it is. I know that in the past if I have been sick with something that I didn't recognize, I have gone online and searched my symptoms and my common cold has come back as a more serious infection. Doing this can cause a lot of stress and anxiety to form when you really have nothing to worry about. The best thing you can do if you are feeling sick or just feel the need to check up on yourself is go to the doctor, don't make yourself worry with all of the information on the internet.